Thomas Mittelwerk
Thomas Mittelwerk, or Dr. Thomas Werner Mittelwerk, was the President and Chief Technologist of the Hanso Foundation. He was groomed by Alvar Hanso to be his successor but eventually overthrew him as the head of the Hanso Foundation. Through her research, protagonist Rachel Blake discovered that Mittelwerk has never obtained a degree at any institution in the world, making his "doctor" title a lie. Through further investigation, she discovered how Mittelwerk was now working in corrupt areas, such as organ harvesting, and how he was planning to test a deadly virus on villagers in Sri Lanka. After video evidence (the Sri Lanka Video) was released of Mittelwerk admitting to his plans, the authorities attempted to apprehend Mittelwerk. However, he managed to escape with the virus, and in the process blew up the Hanso Foundation headquarters. After Alvar Hanso released a statement, Mittelwerk hacked the website feed with his own statement saying that he would continue his plan to release the virus. Though not a real doctor by accounts, Mittelwerk does seem an intelligent man, being able to speak Korean as well as English. In fact, considering criteria for his personal assistant on hansocareers.com, the fact that he grew up in Austria (speaking German during his Via Domus appearance), and that his permanent offices were in Copenhagen (Danish), it is quite possible that Mittelwerk is a skilled polyglot. Biography from the Hanso Foundation website As President and Chief Technologist of The Hanso Foundation, Dr. Werner Mittelwerk humbly serves as Alvar Hanso's right hand and chief adviser. Born in Austria, Mittelwerk's early years instilled a work ethic that has helped fuel The Hanso Foundation's engine of progress for over twenty years. Losing his mother to a rare genetic disorder at a young age, Mittelwerk dedicated himself to become the world's foremost authority on biology and genetics. At eighteen, still pursuing at CalTech, Alvar Hanso personally drafted him to join The Hanso Foundation. In his role as President of The Hanso Foundation, Mittelwerk's leadership has ensured prodigious contributions to numerous scientific disciplines, all in the name of insuring a better future for the whole of humanity." -from www.thehansofoundation.org Main references May 2nd/3rd On the Hanso phone line, Mittelwerk's directory contained the following audio message: May 9th Persephone devoted a hack to challenge Mittelwerk's doctoral credentials. Entering the code “heir apparent” on Mittelwerk's profile revealed a hidden flash video, described below: June 22nd In her fourth Copenhagen blog, Rachel Blake managed to record a conversation between Mittelwerk and Minsu, an apparent representative of Paik Heavy Industries. They spoke in Korean, but with the help of her followers, Rachel managed to translate their conversation. With it, Rachel learned more about the Hanso Foundation's ventures, which would eventually lead to her discovery of the Helgus Antonius and the happenings in Sri Lanka. June 23rd In her fifth Copenhagen blog, Rachel tracked Mittelwerk to the Copenhagen Cartographical Society. There she purposefully bumped into him to look at the files he was carrying (the transcript can be read here). n-UaiNlBKa0 July 4th After following Mittelwerk to Iceland and then Italy, in her second blog of that country, Rachel recorded a conversation between Mittelwerk, Peter Thompson and an unidentified female Hanso worker (probably Liddy Wales). The audio can be heard here. July 12th – 14th Mittelwerk appeared in a number of commercials, advertising the Hanso Foundation and refuting critics against them. The videos can be viewed here: * General advertisement * Life Extension Project * Mathematical Forecasting Initiative July-September In Sri Lanka, Rachel shot the Sri Lanka video, a damaging piece of footage, showing Mittelwerk to be directly involved in illegal experiments on human beings in third world nations. Around the same time, the Missing Organs folder scandal implicated Mittelwerk with illegal organ harvesting and transportation for controversial Hanso facility research. Below is the Sri Lanka video in full, a transcript of which can be found here. _PPCCcXarkc September 24th As the Lost Experience ended, DJ Dan hosted a second live broadcast. During it, a caller phoned in having tapped into a police radio feed in Copenhagen. Operatives were preparing to break in and arrest Mittelwerk, after Rachel had released her Sri Lanka evidence to the authorities. After finding an imposter, the operatives heard a chilling recorded message. Mittelwerk had escaped the building and destroyed much of the evidence within the Hanso building archives. However, now exposed, he was on the run from the law. September 26th With Mittelwerk now a wanted fugitive, Alvar Hanso was freed and reinstated as head of the Hanso Foundation. On thehansofoundation.org website, Hanso thanked Rachel for all her efforts. However, clicking the word “humanity” revealed a secret message from Mittelwerk. ''Bad Twin'' mentions In Chapter 23 of Bad Twin, in an apparent new change on the board at the Widmore Corporation, Alvar Hanso was replaced by Mittelwerk. Arthur Widmore discusses his dislike of Mittelwerk with his son Cliff, before Paul Artisan arrives: In Chapter 39, Artisan explains some information about Cliff, and mentions Thomas Mittelwerk: Lost: Via Domus In the episode , during Elliott's flashbacks, a sans ponytail Mittelwerk is seen meeting with Zoran Savo in the Opal Suite of the Hotel Persephone. Mittelwerk sells Sarin gas to Savo who is using it in some way as part of ESP experiments. Below is their entire conversation: In , a letter was found by Elliott Maslow in Rico's shop. The letter was from Thomas Mittelwerk to the Hanso Foundation Board of Directors. The letter read: To the Board of Directors, Hanso Foundation, I'm pleased to announce the commencement of Phase 2 of the Chenchey Project. We will now begin to explore the human brain in ways never before imagined. The results will no doubt astound. I thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm. Warmest Regards, TM. Trivia Name references *In German, Mittel means Middle (or in between) and Werk means work (or factory). * Mittelwerk was a large underground facility built by the Nazis that was staffed with prisoners transferred from concentration camps. The conditions were horrific and thousands of prisoners died due to malnutrition, disease, exhaustion or hanging (by camp guards). The site is where Hitler ordered the V-2 missile to be built, it being the first missile or vehicle to pass the sound barrier. * The concentration camp that held the Mittelwerk workers was known as Dora-Mittelbau. Conditions there were so horrific that Auschwitz prisoners that received news of their transfer to Dora reportedly hanged themselves. * There was no one listed in any U.S., German or Austrian phonebook named Mittelwerk. The only other association on the Internet, other than the Lost Experience Game, was the underground facility from WWII. * The Mittelwerk factory was the brainchild of SS General Heinz Kammler. Kammler was appointed by Heinrich Himmler to replace Army General Dr. Walter Dornberger. Kammler had no scientific experience and was best known for razing the Warsaw Ghetto. Kammler may be seen as a parallel for Thomas Mittelwerk. * Werner was the first name of Dr. Werner von Braun, Dornberger's protegee, who was instrumental both in development of the V-2 and later of the Apollo moon rockets, but who advocated the use of slave labor in the Mittelwerk. ** Werner Von Braun's younger brother was Magnus Von Braun. Magnus Hanso was the great grandfather of Alvar Hanso. Misc. * Lost composer Michael Giacchino composed several pieces for the mission "A Mittelwerk Saboteur" in the game "Medal of Honor Underground", in which the player must infiltrate and sabotage the Mittelwerk factory. *The name Mittelwerk is similar enough that it could be related to Mittelos Bioscience, a company seen on the main show. This is because they are German names. *The code "Mittelwerk" was used in the Dharma Initiative Recruiting Project ARG as part of a cheat for Test 4 in their recruitment drive. So far, it is assumed the reference is not significant. de:Thomas Mittelwerk es:Thomas Mittelwerk fr:Thomas Mittelwerk it:Thomas Mittelwerk pl:Thomas Mittelwerk pt:Thomas Mittelwerk Mittelwerk, Thomas Mittelwerk, Thomas Mittlework, Thomas Mittlework, Thomas Category:Scientists